My Favorite Books of 2014

Although I hope to finish a few more books in the next couple of weeks, I’m going ahead and calling my top books of 2014!

FICTION

Rainbow Rowell Fest: Rowell was my favorite author of 2014, hands down. I read Eleanor & Park in 2013 and knocked out the rest of her oeuvre this year: Fangirl, Landline, and Attachments.

Sci-Fi: Julie Cross’s Tempest trilogy was a fresh, highly addictive take on time travel that really deserves the movie-or-TV treatment. And Rick Yancey followed up alien-invasion story The 5th Wave with a bang that left me going, NO. WAY.

Dystopia: I waited until the whole trilogy was out to tackle Divergent, and I’m so glad I did. It consumed me for a couple of weeks. While I understand the gamut of complaints about it and wasn’t super thrilled with the ending myself, I still found Tris and her world so thought-provoking I could probably write an academic paper on it.

Coming of Age: In The Probability of Miracles, a teenager dying of cancer spends a summer with her family in a town known for its miracles. I promise it’s funnier and more uplifting than it sounds. I also just finished Since You’ve Been Gone, about a shy-ish girl whose flashier best friend disappears, leaving her with a list of daring tasks to complete in her absence. Loved it.

Contemporary: Isla and the Happily Ever After was a great conclusion to Stephanie Perkins’ cities trilogy.

V. Mars Still Rules: I wasn’t sure how Veronica Mars would translate to the page, but I really shouldn’t have feared since creator Rob Thomas started as a novelist. Can’t wait for the next installment. More Logan, please!!!

NONFICTION

Memoir: I really can’t say enough about Amy Poehler’s Yes Please. I also loved I Don’t Know What You Know Me From by perennial movie best friend Judy Greer, and the relatable and funny Never Have I Ever: My Life (So Far) Without A Date.

Daring Greatly: Stitches, Let’s All Be Brave, and Beauty and the Bitch all brought grace and Wholeheartedness into my life without mincing words.

Life: Jonalyn Fincher’s Invitation to Tears might be the most honest, helpful book for grieving people I’ve ever read. And Revelations of a Single Woman gave me a needed vocabulary for random aspects of the unexpectedly single life. It was so reassuring to hear her describe things I’ve struggled with and go, Oh. This isn’t my own weirdness, this is a thing.

Culture and Faith: I read Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion as a book club selection. I probably never would have picked it up on my own, but I still can’t stop talking about it. In City of God, Sara Miles’s bringing of Ash Wednesday ashes to the masses gave me a lot to think about.

So what should I add to my to-read list for next year? Leave me recs!